sam raimi - HecklerSpray

Spider-Man 4: New Spider-Man To Be Even More Of A Whining Mimsy

January 12th, 2010 By Stuart Heritage

Watching the evolution between Spider-Man and Spider-Man 3, it was pretty clear what Spider-Man 4 would include.

There’d be about 400 baddies, for starters. And it’d be up to 17 hours long. And it’d be a musical. And all of Spider-Man’s emotions would be signposted by a change of haircut. And Kirsten Dunst would have completed her transformation from busty pin-up to Otzi The Iceman in a ginger wig. And, needless to say, it’d be worse than terrible. Yes, Spider-Man 4 was more or less a done deal.

But not any more. Sony has just decided to bin Sam Raimi, Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst and start Spider-Man 4 from scratch as a gritty teenage drama in a move rumoured to have the codename ‘Project Let’s Try And Make Something Even Worse Than Spider-Man 3‘.

Exclusive: Tommy Wirkola From Dead Snow’s Top 5 Horror Movies

August 28th, 2009 By David Scarborough

Tommy Wirkola is a new name for the horror genre but his audacious, hilarious and blood-splattered Norwegian Nazi zombie movie Dead Snow, shows that this is one director who has done his homework.

If the film isn't making you laugh, cutting something in half or having intestine pulled out of one of the characters, then its winking at the audience with some reference to some of the best-loved horror masterpieces.

Tommy Wirkola has exclusively talked to us about his top five horror movies of all time, and as a list of definitive titles to watch, it’s hard to argue with. Enjoy…

Sam Raimi Does World Of Warcraft: Will It Be Brilliant Or Rubbish?

July 23rd, 2009 By Stuart Heritage

World Of Warcraft is huge – if you’re a lonely single male who smells like his own underwear, you’ll know this.

But what next? Once you’ve created a game as all-encompassing as World Of Warcraft – where you’re guaranteed to never be more than three feet away from a Korean adolescent with crippling emotional problems – what do you do next? Simple, you turn it into a blockbuster movie featuring a procession of silly haircuts and a borderline-harrowing egg-based musical interlude.

That is to say that Sam Raimi, director of Spider-Man 3 and no other films, is making a World Of Warcraft movie.

Movie Review: Drag Me To Hell

August 5th, 2012 By hecklerspray staff

Sam Raimi (The Evil Dead, Spider-Man) hasn't made a horror movie in almost a decade (if you count The Gift), but it is the genre where he cut his teeth and created cult hero Ash, played by Bruce ?This is my boomstick!? Campbell.

Drag Me To Hell is Raimi?s return to the genre, although he certainly hasn't been idle in the horror: his production company, Ghost House Pictures, introduced Western audiences to The Grudge and 30 Days of Night.

Drag Me To Hell takes as many cues from Raimi?s old work as some of his more recent Ghost House work. In the vein of the best 70s horror, it is at its heart a morality play, although one with a wicked sense of humour and slightly less gore than your average splatter-horror flick.

Win Drag Me To Hell Tickets! Meet Sam Raimi!

May 18th, 2009 By Stuart Heritage

So it looks like hecklerspray’s run of Actually Pretty Amazing competition prizes continues apace.

This time we’ve got a stunning prize for one reader – a pair of tickets for an intimate London screening of new horror movie Drag Me To Hell, with a pre-screening drinks reception attended by director Sam Raimi, as well as stars Alison Lohman and Justin Long.

It’s all happening in London next Monday, and frankly we’re considering entering it under an assumed name. But if you want a crack at winning this inexplicably good prize, details are after the jump…

Watch Sam Raimi?s Drag Me To Hell Trailer

March 25th, 2009 By David Schwartz

There was a time when you only had to mention the words ?Sam Raimi? and ?horror movie? to get Hecklerspray wetting its pants in anticipation.

But after seeing the trailer for the Evil Dead director?s new film Drag Me To Hell, we are holding off on the incontinence nappies for the time being.

The idea of it is pretty good. Basically, main character Alison Lohman, desperate to impress her banker bosses, is cursed by some ugly woman with a funny eye after refusing to grant her a mortgage extension.

It means that some demon has been unleashed to drag her back to hell.

Spider-Man 4 & 5: Kirsten Dunst Checks Out?

March 25th, 2009 By Stuart Heritage

If the failings of Spider-Man 3 could be summed up in two words, they’d be ‘Kirsten Dunst’ – five words and it’d be ‘Kirsten Dunst and everything else.’

So imagine what the forthcoming Spider-Man 4 and Spider-Man 5 movies would be like without Kirsten Dust’s anemic wailing and egg-based dance routines. You’re imagining they’d be quite good, aren’t you. Well, you’re in luck, because Spider-Man director Sam Raimi is giving off the impression that Kirsten Dunst won’t feature in either of the two new movies.

Actually, we should be a bit more accurate – Sam Raimi implied that Kirsten Dunst’s character Mary-Jane wouldn’t be in the new Spider-Man movies. He also hinted that one of the new Spider-Man villains could be a vicious scaly reptilian humanoid, though, so if that doesn’t warrant a callback for Kirsten Dunst then nothing will.

Tom Cruise Causes Sleeper Puns to Take Over the Internet. We’re Not Happy.

August 19th, 2008 By Ian Dransfield

Tom Cruise is continuing his run of trying to make people think he’s less of a massive mental, religious freak.

First he stopped jumping around like a particularly stupid chimp, he stopped going on about Scientology in public – though he did see some of his private video collection released, much to the delight/terror (delete as appropriate) of the general public – and he’s seeing some rave reviews flying about for his small role in Tropic Thunder. So what next?

Well, it’s obvious isn’t it? Star in a superhero film, and get someone like Sam Raimi on board to produce. Which is, apparently, what’s being pushed for by Tom Cruise and Warner Bros, who own the rights to Sleeper – a short running comic book series from a few years back. Well, Raimi’s already on board, but you get the point.

And you can’t fault the man’s logic.

Venom Movie Pushed Forward on a Wave of Unoriginality

March 24th, 2009 By Ian Dransfield

Another day, another decision to remake/sequelise/spin-off an existing movie. This time it’s Venom’s turn.

Yes, for those that saw Spider-Man 3 – he’s the one played by Topher Grace off That 70s Show. He’s the one that should have been one of the best villains in comic movie history, but instead ended up being a complete rush job, thus making one of Spider-Man’s greatest foes actually a big pile of crud.

|Plus he appared to die in the film, so how Sony are going to play this we don’t really know. Time machine? A ‘he’s dead or is he OR IS HE’ angle? Ignoring the film, thus rendering his appearance in the Spider-Man movie worthless? Which it was.

It’ll probably be the third. And we bet Sam Raimi will be happy about that, after being forced to incorporate Venom into his movie in the first place.

Ah, Hollywood.

Sam Raimi and The Evil Disney

March 25th, 2009 By Ian Dransfield

Let’s rewind to another, simpler, stupider time: the 1980s.

It was a time when some things happened, some stuff did some stuff and some naughty drugs were taken a lot by high-powered businessmen in high-powered business suits.

It was also a time when the original The Evil Dead movie came out, made for around $375,000, starring nobodies, with a sense of humour and receiving a great deal of positive remarks from the critics. Fast forward to the other year and Sam Raimi, director of The Evil Dead has just released Spider-Man 3; a huge-budget summer blockbuster, starring some of Hollywood’s biggest names and courting some very mixed reviews.